


Sacred New Beginnings

by Justsomeone555



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Azula is good, Badass Katara (Avatar), Badass Suki, Badass Toph Beifong, Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Bisexual Suki (Avatar), Distorted Reality, Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, Family, Friendship, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, everyone is suspicious
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:42:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28815804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Justsomeone555/pseuds/Justsomeone555
Summary: The past Avatars reach out to Aang and ask him to help end another war. Though, when he wakes up and sees Zuko without a scar and Azula helping him? Yeah, the past Avatars may have left out a few details.___Inspired by the comic 'Distorted Reality' except this time around Aang brings Sokka and Katara to this new world.
Relationships: Aang & Katara (Avatar), Aang & Sokka (Avatar), Aang/Katara (Avatar), Azula & Katara (Avatar), Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Katara & Suki (Avatar), Mai/Ty Lee (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 59





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This'll be interesting.
> 
> In this story Aang is 15, Katara is 16/17 and Sokka is 17/18. 
> 
> In the separate universe Azula and Katara are 15, Zuko and Sokka are 16. (I hope this makes sense)

Azula watched as the pebbles roll off the path and down the side of the volcano. She looked up to her brother, gripping the handle of one of his broadswords, going up the narrow path. 

"There are other animals to go after, ZuZu." Her hand went out to grab the side of the volcano, averting her eyes away from the ground that they were getting farther and farther away from. 

"Not with as much meat as that goat. That thing could feed us for the next few days." Zuko stopped, and turned to put his back flat against the volcano, side stepping across the path. Azula's breath hitched at the sight. 

"You're insane." He put his finger up in an attempt to silence her. "I see it." The goat was standing on a wider area that the path lead to. Zuko could only see the back legs, the animal stood still. Probably eating grass or something he deduced. 

He reached his arm out, and turned the corner and froze in his spot a gasp leaving him. The goat turned its head quickly and sprinted off at the sight of Zuko. "Nice going, you finally get to the thing and you scare him off." 

Azula had her cheek up to the stone and she shuffled her feet up the path. Zuko didn't respond, he went onto the landing, going out of her line of sight. Azula picked up the pace, grumbling things to herself. "No Azula let's go after the goat, not the rabbits that are so much easier to get." 

Relief washed over the girl when she saw the safe area, if she had to shuffle her feet up this godforsaken volcano any longer she would have contemplated just jumping off. 

Azula dusted her pants off when she finally got to it. "Well, that was fun." Sarcasm spitting off her tongue, she looked up to Zuko, who was kneeling down. That wasn't the odd part, though. He was kneeling down over a boy wearing orange and yellow clothing. 

She sped over, resting her hand on Zukos shoulder and peering over him. The boy was bald, a bright blue arrow on his head that flowed down the rest of his body. Arrows peaking out of the sleeve of his shirt and at the back of his hand. 

"An air bender?" Zuko muttered, setting his broadsword next to him gently. "I thought the water nation wiped them out a hundred years ago." Zuko nodded, reaching down and gently shaking the boy. 

"They did, there's only one explanation." He looked up to his sister, who gave him a quick glance before bending over in laughter. Zuko rolled his eyes, looking back to the boy. 

"They killed the avatar decades ago ZuZu. They ended the cycle." Azula looked down, kicking some of the pebbles laying around her feet. Zuko shook him a but harder, grabbing the collar of his outfit. 

"Hes probably dead." She shrugged and walked toward the path. "We should probably head back and actually get some food." Zuko gave a reluctant nod and grabbed his sword and put it back into the case resting on his back. 

Then, the boy groaned and the siblings turned quickly to watch him. He rolled over to his side, turning away from the two. He put his hands down on the stone below him, the pebbles digging into his palms. 

He got onto his knees, and turned around once more, moving to sit on his bottom. His head was back, staring up at the sky as he groaned in discomfort. The two watched him in amazement. 

Once the nomad looked back down, his eyes widened and he grabbed his staff, pointing it to Azula. "Whats she doing here?!" He pushed himself back lightly on his feet. She put her arms up, taking a step back as well. 

He put his staff to Zuko, his brows furrowing in confusion. "What happened to your face?" Zuko took a step forward, his hand extended in an attempt to calm the boy down. 

"Who are you?" He extended his staff a bit farther, making it inches away from Zukos chest. Zuko slowly reached over for one of his swords. 

"I'm Aang, the avatar." 

___

Katara stirred, attempting to open her eyes, but she quickly shut them with a gasp as they were much to dry to open at the moment. She could hear commotion at all sides of her, her shoulders burned. 

"Katara!" She shot her eyes open at the sound of her brothers voice. They started to water a bit in response to the dryness, making the pain a bit more bearable. Sokka was next to her, they were in the same position. Down on their knees and hands tied tightly behind them. 

"I see you're finally awake, princess." The woman grabbed Kataras chin and pulled her head up. "Mai?" Sokka leaned forward a bit to get a better look at the girl. Mai glared at Sokka, before turning back to Katara. 

"I see you came back to cause us more devastation. I won't let that happen." He took out a sword and pointed it to her neck. Mai looked back to Lo and Li. 

"Where did you find them?" 

"In the fields next to the volcano, I didnt see any of their fleet nearby." Mai hummed, moving the tip of her sword closer. Katara put her head up to separate the blade and her throat. 

"Mai, what are you doing?" Sokka tried and she glanced at the warrior, a smirk falling on her lips. "So you do know my name. How long have you been watching us?" Mai turned her head back to Ty Lee, and gestured for the girl to come over to Sokka. 

"What are you talking about? We're friends." Mai's shoulders shook with a laugh, which was a dangerous game for her sword was much to close to Kataras throat. "Friends? You've caused us immeasurable pain." 

Ty Lee bent down to look at Sokka face to face. Her brows furrowing as she studied him. "I thought he had a scar." Ty Lee looked back to Mai, dragging a finger down her eye to mimick the scar. 

"Its a trick. We should end them before their fleet comes." One of the women spoke up, she had a baby in her arms, bouncing it up and down. Katara dragged her eyes around the rest of the area. She'd never seen anything like it from the Fire Nation. 

A small circle of huts, some were tents. The place couldn't hold more than twenty people, and that's pushing it. Mai was staring into her wide blue eyes, as if she was searching for something. 

"Do you at least feel anything? Remorse for what you've done to us? What you're people have done to mine?" 

"Mai please-" 

"Killing you will set back the war a bit." The sword left her neck, and was swung behind Mai's back to get momentum. Sokka tried to push himself forward but Ty Lee was holding his shoulders. 

"Stop!" Before Mai could even get the sword past her shoulders she turned around at the sound of Zukos voice. 

Now, Mai believed that the craziest thing she ever would see was last week when Ty Lee _swore_ she could communicate with the rabbits, the dead ones at that. However, that moment could never top what she was seeing now. 

In between Zuko and Azula was a boy, couldn't be above the age of sixteen, wearing bright orange and yellow clothing. One of his shoulders bare as the shirt draped over him. Behind the three of them, though was a large furry beast. Who had arrows much like the boys, except they weren't blue but brown. 

"Its so cute!" Ty Lee let go of Sokkas shoulders to point at the beast, smiling ear to ear. Mai's arm fell, throwing the sword down and glaring at Zuko. "Are you crazy?!" 

Azula stepped forward and gestured her hands to the boy. "Hes the avatar!" Aang smiled and waved to Mai who just raised an eyebrow and glared back to Azula. 

"Oh no, you're just gullible." Azulas face fell, and she looked over to Aang who was staring at Sokka and Katara. "No, hes really the avatar." Zuko claimed, resting a hand on the nomads shoulders. 

Mai walked towards Aang, the dead grass beneath her crunching. "Thats impossible. They ended the cycle. Ozai saw it himself." Aang cringed at the name Ozai, but no one seemed to notice. 

"I'm not from around here." 

"Enlighten me."


	2. The Move

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the kudos and comments! I really appreciate it.

The fire crackled as Zuko pushed one of the logs over with a long stick. The embers flying off and dropping around the small area. He set the stick down and rested his hands on his thighs, looking around the fire. 

The others had gone to bed, all that remained were Ty Lee, Mai, Aang, Katara, Sokka, Azula, and himself. Katara and Aang sat next to each other, their shoulders pressed together. Sokka sat across from the couple, alone on a log. 

"We're going to have to move again." Azula spoke, breaking the long silence between the seven of them. Zuko gave a solemn nod, looking down at the dead yellow grass below him. 

"We've been here too long, in the morning we'll start packing." Mai shook her head the fire reflecting in her eyes. "Tom Tom can't handle another move. We need to wait." She looked up to Zuko and Azula, a pleading glance in her eyes. 

"We can't risk another raid." Mai's hand tightened around Ty Lee's. Katara turned to the two girls, and licked her lips. 

"I can help." Mai was quick to turn her head, shooting a glare at the waterbender. She slid over, pushing off Aangs arm and leaned a bit closer to the large flame. "I'm a healer, if we really need to move-"

"You're not going anywhere near him." She shot back, her hair flying forwards a bit as she jerked. Ty Lee grabbed her shoulder, gently tugging her back a bit and away from the fire. 

"She just wants to help." Sokka butted in, his thumb dragging over the bark on the log he sat on lightly. "Shes a great healer, let her help." Mai tightened her jaw, giving Katara another quick glare. 

"Tomorrow morning while everyone's packing. You won't leave my sight." She stood up, brushing her pants off. Ty Lee stood as well, their hands still entwined. The smoke met her eyes and she cringed for a moment and looked down. 

Mai opened her mouth about to speak, probably bid farwell, but she quickly closed her mouth and walked off to a tent, Ty Lee shuffling behind her. The five watched the girls walk into the tent. 

Aang sighed and turned back to the faltering fire, he put his hand out and shot it at the flame. Azula smirked and leaned forward so she could see Aang over Zuko who was sitting beside her. 

"Teach me." Aang rubbed his thumb over his index finger and looked up to the girl, raising an eyebrow. "What?" 

"Teach me firebending." An odd look came onto his face, as if she made some morbid joke that he didn't quite understand. He put his hand on the back of his neck and gave a small shrug. 

"I'm no master, I can teach you some basics maybe a few advanced moves. Nothing too big." He expected a disappointed look, but her face lit up and she jumped from her seat. 

"Thats great! You can teach me on our way to the Golden City." Zuko groaned and put his head back. "Will you stop it with the Golden City already?" He waves his hand dismissively at his sister, and she slowly sat back down. 

"Whats the Golden City?" Sokka inquired as he clasped his hands together. The smile fell back onto Azula's face and she looked up at the stars above her. The dots scattered around the dark sky sent shivers down her spine. 

"The only place in the world that has other fire benders, I've heard it has large golden gates and walls. The water tribes can't make it through those." Her shoulders shook lightly as she laughed. 

"Maybe thats what we should do, ZuZu. Set up big gates so they can't get to us again." Katara averted her eyes quickly, digging her heel into the dirt underneath her. 

____

Sweat rolled off of Sokkas forehead as he walked through the grass. His shoulders and back burned with the weight of the bag he had on, so stuffed it looked like it could pop at any second. 

The only sounds were the dead grass beneath their feet, a bit of mumbling of the other people and Appas stomping as he followed them. Atop of Appa were the children and a few bags resting on his saddle, Tom Tom as cheery as ever from the healing Katara had done that morning. 

Sokka looked over to a woman on his left, she had long grey hair and was a bit hunched over. She was either Li or Lo, he couldn't exactly remember. He was quite positive that no one in the village could remember who was who. The two were identical. 

"So, the water tribe. What are they like?" She looked at him and tilted her head a bit. "Wouldn't you know? You're from there." She turned her head back to ahead of her. 

"Give him a break, Lo." Li said, nudging her sister with her elbow. "Ruthless is what they are. When they want something, they get it." Lo claimed with the prompt shrug of her shoulders. Sokka licked the sweat that was laying above his lip and nodded. 

"I'm sorry." Another woman turned her head, she was walking in front of the three of them. "What?" Li asked, wiping the beads of sweat on her forehead. 

"I know it doesn't mean much, because technically I had nothing to do with it. But I'm sorry." The woman's lips curled up, before turning back around and quickening her pace. "It does mean a lot." Lo whispered, a smile coming onto her own face. 

"I never thought I'd hear that apology before I die." Li nodded in agreement with her sister, a content smile coming onto her own face. 

Katara waterbent the sweat off her face, tossing it onto the grass below her. It was unbearably hot, the only reason she hadn't collapsed from dehydration was from pulling some water from the air. She had remembered late last night Zuko had talked about the horrible droughts they had. 

Apparently, the small village also made sure to keep away from rivers incase the water tribes found them. Which, she had to admit, was a smart move. However, it did come with consequences and loss. 

"Bending is all in the legs." Katara turned to her left to see Aang talking to Azula, the sun glaring off his head. Azula nodded quickly and got into position, with her legs outstretched. Aang chuckled and grabbed her shoulders lightly, gently pushing her along. 

"Maybe not right now." Katara was still a bit uneasy around Azula. Even though she acted _nothing_ like the Azula she had known and hated. It was rather odd to he comfortable around her presence, definitely not a feeling she was willing to get used to. 

Another thing was Zukos scar, she always wondered what he looked like without it and now that it was becoming a daily sight she would rather go back to how it was. Then again, everything here is different. Her last conversation with Zuko was still fresh in her mind. 

_"I've done all the healing for Toph that I can." Katara stated, walking up to Zuko who was leaning against the doorframe of the palaces medbay. He jumped in his spot at her unexpected voice and turned on his heel quickly._

_"I need to ask you a favor." Zuko gave her a small smile, Katara nervously leaning from one foot to the other. "Can you watch over Toph? Aang is taking Sokka with us to the North Pole." His face fell and he pushed himself off the doorframe._

_"Why?"_

_"Something about a war. Avatar Yangchen told him to take us there, said to go to Tui and La and let the spirits do the rest of the work." Zuko looked down to the floor below him, giving her a barely noticeable nod._

_"Wheres Sokka?" He muttered, looking back up to her. "He's in his room waiting for you. He really wanted you to come." She didn't get to chance to see his smile before he turned quickly and sped down the hall._

_Kataras lips thinned as she walked into the medbay, looking down at Toph on the bed. The earthbender had fought hard when the fire nation rebels attacked the capital. There was only so much she could do, though._

_"You should be up and ready in a weeks time." Katara whispered, pressing the back of her hand to Tophs forehead. "Yeah...you'll be just fine."_

"Earth to Katara." Aang called out, waving his hand in front of her. She gave him a soft smile, and he put his finger up to her, blowing a gust of wind to her face. With a laugh she put a kiss onto his cheek. 

"Oogies." Sokka murmured, speeding up a bit and pushing past some of the people ahead of him. 

___

The metal clanked underneath his feet as he walked up to the woman ahead of him. She had one hand gripped onto the boats railing, her other was outstretched, a ball of water floating in it. 

"May I help you?" Her voice was smooth, and her finger ran across the railing. "Princess Katara, there's a storm coming we won't be able to make it to the Golden City for the next few days." The water in her hand dropped into the ocean and she turned around. 

"Captain Amaruq, I would never put my crew in such danger. We should stop at the next village and stay until the storm passes over." Amaruq smiled and saluted to her before walking off to the crew. 

"Can you get Lady Hama up here? We have some training to do." He nodded as he continued to walk off. She turned back to the ocean, staring down at the deep blue. 

"Idiot." Katara heard a familiar laugh to her right and twisted back to see Suki, her back leaning against the railing. "Everyone else on the crew is even more clueless. We can't replace him." Suki nodded with a smirk on her face. 

"We'll get past the gates." 

"I'm not worried about that. I know _we_ can, but it wouldn't hurt to have a few more on the team." 


	3. Preparations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for all the comments and kudos! They make my day

The sun was beginning to set by the time they were setting up camp. Everyone was exhausted and in grave need for some rest. All the children were energized since they sat on Appa during the trip, they were off running around in a nearby field. Their laughter filled the air. 

"We can't bring them all to fight with us." Sokka said as he tied another knot that held up the tent. Aang looked off to Zuko helping Li into her tent, and nodded his head. "Well, the three of us can't fight an entire army either. Especially if we dont know what we're up against." 

Sokka hummed and stood up, bending backwards a bit to stretch his aching muscles. "Do we just leave them? It feels wrong." 

"I'm interested." The boys turned to the sound and saw Azula, a smile on her face and a gleam in her eyes. A look that still made them shiver a bit. "What are you talking about?" Sokka laughed out nervously, averting his eyes away from her. 

"The water nation killed my mother, their the reason Zukos the oldest man here. They need to go down." Her fingers went up to her golden hairpin, tracing the curves of the object. "Plus, I can master firebending." She quietly added and put her hand back to her hip, the smile returning to her face. 

"The more the merrier." Aang muttered out. His eyes skimmed over the area to look for Katara, they finally landed on her bending soup she had made into multiple bowls laid out in front of her. 

"So, when are we leaving?" 

___

Suki stood at the docks, watching as Katara walked off the ship. They had stopped at one of the colonies to wait out the storm, the Captain was right she could hear the lightning in the distance. 

"You have the same house as last time, princess." One of the crewmen, Apuk she thought his name was, informed her. Katara nodded "I have a stop to make first." She waved her hand at him and he hurried off. 

Katara gave Suki a small nod of acknowledgment as she passed by the Kyoshi Warrior, walking down the road and towards the abundance of houses. Suki followed behind her, flipping the golden fan around in her hand. 

Katara didn't pay much attention to the citizens around her, stepping to the side to keep their distance from the waterbender. Though, they all did have a smile on their face as they walked past the princess. 

They finally stopped outside a larger house, and a smile fell onto Suki's face upon recognition. Katara gripped the door knob and turned back to her friend. "Wait out here." She didn't even open the door halfway before she made it into the house and shut it behind her. 

"Knocking wouldn't hurt." The voice was gruff, rustling was soon after he spoke. Katara walked into the living room, crossing her arms over her chest and watched as he shuffled around the room. 

"I have news, brother." Sokka shot her a glare as he pulled the shirt on over his head. "Save it, sis. Not interested." She rolled her eyes and leaned against the wall. 

"You still owe me a favor." She had a gleeful tone in her voice, Sokka rubbed his scar. It was faded, running over his now grey eye, it went from just above his eyebrow to a bit before his top lip. 

"I didnt ask you to tell everyone I killed the avatar." He grumbled, stumbling off into the kitchen. Katara pushed off the wall and followed him in. "I got you off that ship and back into the tribe." Sokka turned the faucet and bent the water coming out of it onto his face to wash it. 

"You put Gran Gran in prison." He shot back, turning the faucet back off. "She betrayed our nation." Sokka groaned and turned around, leaning against the counter. Katara plastered a fake grin onto her face and walked up to her brother. 

"Look, do me this favor and I'll try to pull a few strings with her prison sentence." He looked down and sharply shrugged his shoulders. "Besides, dad hasn't seen you for years." Sokka pushed past her and grabbed an apple on the table. 

"Whats the favor? And why do you need me?" He took a bite out of the apple, the juices flowing down his face. She sighed and stuffed her hand into her pocket.

"The Golden City, a solar eclipse is coming so we have our chance to break in." Sokka hummed and set down the fruit. "Yue's getting ready for her coronation and none of my crew even know what a map is." He chuckled and nodded. 

"Mom and dad never did care about maps." A smile fell onto Kataras lips and she rested her hand on his shoulder. "We leave tomorrow, storm or no." 

___

"Leave?" Zuko chocked out, dropping the bowl of soup onto the floor, the soup splashing out of it. Azula raised her eyebrow and scoffed at him. "Not permanently ZuZu, we're helping the _avatar_ stop the war." 

"It is permanent, there's no way you'll make it back alive." Mai claimed, which earned a light smack from Ty Lee. "I think its brave, long overdue too." Azula nodded and pointed to the acrobat. 

"She gets it! Besides, they've already ended one war didnt they?" Zuko shook his head as he bent over to grab the now empty bowl he dropped. "We can't leave the village alone, its not safe." 

"Its not safe if this war keeps going on! We can't run forever!" Azula shot back and stood up, waving her arms out. She looked around to the other two girls, and let out a frustrated groan. The firebender stomped out of the large tent, leaving the three of them alone. 

"Shes right you know." Mai shrugged, Ty Lee nodding in agreement. "I'm not leaving here anytime soon, Tom Tom needs me. This war needs to end, though." 

"I've done enough traveling, I think its time for me to stay with the same people." Ty Lee added in, the usual cheeriness in her voice disappearing in the matter of seconds. 

Zuko looked back to the tent flap and hummed lightly. "Yeah, maybe it is." 

Azula had her hands in fists as she paced around the camp. Zuko was always close minded like that, protective of her. "Stupid. Stupid. Stupid." She got louder every word she used, her shoulders arched up. 

She stopped in her tracks, her feet sinking into the soft dirt below her. The cool night breeze blew past her, it was much more bearable here after the sun set. 

"Everything okay out here?" Katara asked, stepping out of the earth tent Aang made. Azula dismissively waved her hand off behind her at the waterbender. "Just an argument." 

Azula turned around, Katara was standing outside the tent with her hands over her arms in an attempt to warm herself up. "Wanna talk about it?" She shook her head, running a hand through her loose hair. 

"No, no," she sighed out "its not a big deal, I'll be over it in the morning." Azula sat down on a log by the burnt out fire. "Do you need anything?" 

"Someone to talk to." Katara gave her a small smile and sat on the log across from her. She rubbed her cold hands together, letting out a long sigh. Azula stared at the dead fire, her fingers unconsciously picking at the bark on the log she sat on. 

"Whats it like? Without a war-I mean." Katara hummed and stared up at the sky as she thought of a suitable answer. When she looked down, she saw amber eyes staring patiently at her, still impossible to get used to. 

"Weird, I was born and grew up in it, its been almost three years and I still haven't gotten used to being around soilders." Azulas lips pursed, giving an unsatisfied look. 

"Dont get me wrong, its peaceful and-and great. Just odd to be around after so long." Katara quickly added upon seeing the girls look. She perked up in response, which reminded the waterbender of herself back when she and Sokka started traveling with Aang, reaching out for any sign of hope of a normal life. 

"Sokka and Aang want to leave tomorrow, probably some time midday." Azula nodded, and looked back to her tent. "I'm coming." Kataras lips curled up, and she leaned back a bit. "I guess the Golden City would be a nice detour then." 

Azula grinned, and turned back to Katara, she looked like she was about to squeal with joy. Instead, the firebender lazily pointed a finger to the girl adjacent to her. 

"They're not going to let you anywhere near them in those water nation clothes."


	4. Begin the Journey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im not proud at how short this one is (sorry) but I wanted to get this chapter out before I took too long.

Leaving midday was no longer an option-not with Azula's nagging it wasn't anyways. So there Sokka stood, tossing a bag onto Appas saddle, an unfamiliar breeze blew past him. It was uncommon to get those around here. Instead they usually got met with the sun beating down on you. 

"Almost ready?" Kataras voice was quiet, he didn't really want to think much of it but he knew there was a reason for such. There always was a reason with his sister. Sokka side eyed Zuko, checking to see if the teen was out of ear shot. 

"Its weird." Her eyes widened and she excitedly hummed in agreement. "I started to wonder if I was going insane." He chuckled and rested one hand against Appa's thick fur. 

"You know-this is stupid-but I told Zuko to write letters to me." He says, "I mean _our_ Zuko. I told him to write me once a week." Katara reached up, resting her own bag on the saddle. 

"I dont know if his letters will reach you." Her tone didn't suggest it was a joke, but she was usually bad with that sort of stuff. Sokka chuckled anyhow, it was a fake one but she was right. 

"I mean I-I look at him and I _want_ to kiss him y'know? But I just..." he trails off, looking back at Zuko again, he slung a bag over his shoulder and waved to the siblings. Sokka returned a quick, albeit fake, smile before turning back to his sister. 

Kataras eyebrows curved, and her face did that thing he noticed that she did when she would get worried. Truly, there was no reason for her to be worried about him, Sokka could handle his feelings all by himself. Not that he would ever tell his sister that. 

"Hurry up, will you ZuZu?" Azula was already on Appa, laying down with her hands behind her head. "I dont know how much I like this." Li spoke out, the small crowd around her turning their heads to see her. 

"We'll be fine, Azula and I can handle ourselves." Zuko waved the elder off, walking up to the flying bison. "We're not worried about that," Lo says, "its the waterbender." Li finished for her sister, trying to keep her voice quiet. However, everyone heard her. 

Katara climbed atop Appa, trying to ignore the accusation that she'd hurt anyone innocent. "She's not like them, neither of them are." Azula sat up, raising her eyebrow at the twins. The two shrugged in unison, though they continued to whisper to each other. 

Aang frowned as he looked down at Katara "Dont mind them." He murmured, she didn't respond. Her eyes were too fixated on her own fidgeting hands. 

___

Suki had a toothless grin plastered on her face. Her fingers lightly trailed on the wall of the hallway of the house she and Katara were staying in. Her finger stopped at the doorframe that lead into the main room, where the princess sat at a large table, a drink in one hand and the newspaper in the other. 

"Who knew colony news would be so interesting." She spoke, obviously hearing the warriors approaching footsteps. Suki walked over towards her, her fingers lingering on the doorframe on the moment. 

"Any serial killers?" Katara chuckled, Suki's hands slipped onto the waterbenders shoulders, digging her thumb down and starting to lightly massage her shoulders. Katara leaned back in her chair, humming warmly. 

"I wish, we'd stay around here longer, no idea why Sokka likes it so much." She peered over Katara's head to read the paper. 'Princess Katara arrives in Omashu' was at the top, in large bolded letters. 

"Egotistical." Katara looked up, an eyebrow notched up. "Well, I am amazing. Should I just be humble about it?" Suki dragged her hands up and down the girls arms. "When are we leaving?" 

She set the paper down, still staring up at Suki. "We should probably get going." With a nod, she stepped back to let Katara slide out of the chair. "I'll meet you on the ship." Katara walked down the hall and went into her room before Suki could respond. 

The Kyoshi Warrior grabbed the cup she left, letting the cool water slide down her throat as she watched her walk off. 

___

A large smile was on Zukos face, his eyes were contently closed at the cool wind blew past his face and created ripples in his shirt as it flowed. He'd never been this high up, and frankly he was a bit scared to open his eyes and look down. 

"I can show you some more things when we find a place to sleep." Aang says, he was sitting towards Appas head and facing the four of them on the saddle. Azula let out a disappointed sigh, she always was all over her firebending. 

"I miss this." Zuko opened his eyes and looked to Sokka, he was laying down and staring up at the sky. It was a bright blue with bright white clouds littered all around. Katara reached out to nudge her brothers leg, she pointed up to a cloud in the sky. 

"It looks like a tigerdillo." He shook his head "No way! Its totally an eel hound!" Katara scoffed and directed her attention to another one of the nearby clouds. 

"What on earth is a tigerdillo? Or an eel hound?" All except for Zuko turned their attention to Azula, who had an expecting look on her face. Zuko nodded along with her, just as confused. 

"You've never heard of them? What kind of animals do you guys have around here?" Sokka sat erect and never broke eye contact with the siblings. 

"Well, we had camels, but we barely had enough food to keep our own village going." Kataras face contorted into one of horror. 

"How did you get artic camels here?! You're lucky they didn't die within the first hour!" 

" _What_ is an artic camel?" Sokka let out a deep sigh as he fell back onto the saddle. "This is the King Keui's bear thing all over again." Azula perked up at what he said. 

"We have bears!" 

___

Sokka stared down at the deep blue sea, mindlessly waterbending with one hand as he watched the waves. It was weird to be back on a boat, even weirder to not be with Gran Gran on one. He could admit that he gave her a very hard time, but she was there for him when no one else was. 

"Dont tell me you're getting sea sick." Kataras approaching footsteps could be heard soon after her comment. The water floating in his hand was dropped back into the sea and he turned to shoot his sister a grin. "It hurts that you doubt me like that, I was on a boat for three years, y'know." 

"Dont know how you did it, especially with the crew dad gave you." She cringed and shook her head "I'd have killed them all a week in." Sokka breathed out a laugh and looked down at the metal boat floor below him. 

"Hows Yue?" Katara smirked and raised a brow. Sokka sheepishly shrugged at her silence while not taking his eyes off the floor. "You'd know if you didn't lock yourself up in that house." 

"Yeah-yeah I know, I just thought about her a bit is all." He looked up to her, his eyes squinting at the sun. Katara hummed "She used to ask about you a lot, before her dad died." 

When Sokka heard the news months ago, he nearly left for the North Pole to comfort Yue. He didn't, he loved her but he _didn't._ Now, she's out becoming the Chieftess of the Northern Tribe and something told him he should be there beside her, be the person she always wanted him to be. 

"She wrote you some letters for when we run into you again." Katara lightly slapped her brothers shoulder, bringing him out of his daze. "You wanna see them?" Sokka quickly nodded and followed his sister into the captains chambers. The clanking off their feet against the metal making everyone around them turn their heads. 

"No ones opened them but, I want you to promise me you'll be on your A game when we get to the Golden City." Katara grabbed the knob of the chambers, staring back to him for an answer. "No matter what is or isn't in those letters, you need to promise me." 

"Yeah yeah." He waved his hand dismissively and reached out to open the door himself, pushing his sisters aggravated groan to the back of his head as he sped to the desk. 


	5. The Great Golden Gates

Sokka popped more berries into his mouth as he stared down at the map in his hands. One of the villagers gave it to him before they left, she was recognizable but he didn't know where exactly he had seen her before. 

He dragged his finger down the map, then lightly smacked a small spot on it with a smile coming onto his face. "There we are." Sokka murmured, he stood up quickly to get everyone's attention. They all looked from whatever they were doing. 

"If we leave first thing tomorrow and only take two breaks we could make it to the Golden City before the moon comes up." Katara scoffed, setting down the shirt she was sewing. 

"Two breaks? Are you crazy?" Azula sat erect and raised an eyebrow "I agree with her." Zuko lazily says, pointing to Katara and Aang. 

"The quicker she masters firebending, the quicker we can end this war." Katara raised an eyebrow at her brothers insistence. She didn't like this new world anymore than he did but she wasn't going to just get it over with like it were some other meaningless task. 

Real people live here, and sure once they resolve the war they'll go back to where they came-but _still,_ they just couldn't afford to be careless. It would lead to much more harm than it would good. 

Sokka grumbled something incoherent to himself and stood up, walking off to the trees surrounding the clearing they had found after hours and hours of traveling. Aang pressed a quick and gentle kiss to Kataras cheek before following Sokka "I'll talk to him." 

Azula shrugged and stretched as she stood up, turning around on one foot. "Well, I've got a lot of rest to do. Especially with us reaching the Golden City soon." A grin came onto her face at the idea of it, she'd only ever heard stories of the place and now she was going there herself! To learn firebending! It was just exciting is all. 

Aang moved the leaves away from his face as he trailed after Sokka. It was understandable why he was upset, Aang could understand wanting to just get this over with. When he finally caught up to the warrior, he found him sitting next to a nearby lake with his bare feet in the water. Shoes not too far behind and his pants rolled up barely above the water. 

"Rough few nights?" Aangs presence didn't surprise him, Sokka knew that at least one of them would end up following him in an effort to comfort whatever he was feeling. "You could say that." The monk sat beside him, putting his knees up to his chest so his feet weren't in the water. 

"You know when I miss Katara," he started, eyeing Sokka for a moment "I think about her eyes. They're like the ocean, calm and comforting." The smallest smile appeared on his friends face, Aang knew how Sokka felt. It was reasonable to be missing someone you're so close to. 

"They're only calm and comforting when she isn't angry at you." They both chuckled. Sokka dug his fingers in the damp grass beside him as he stared into the dark water, barely being able to see his own reflection. 

"If I knew I would be this far from him..." all Aang did was nod. "I dont know if I would've came with you and 'Tara. Does that make me a bad person?" He continued, turning his head to look at the Avatar who had his eyes fixated on the moon above them. 

"No, not at all. Maybe a bit selfish." He gently nudged Sokka "Kidding, honestly I would do the same thing." Aang quickly clarified when he saw his unamused face. 

"I mean, I dont know if we could come back from this one. We barely survived the last war and this is still different." Aangs head dropped down to the trees ahead of the two, resting his head onto his knees. "Thanks for the confidence boost." Sokka said as sarcasm dripped from his tongue. 

"Yeah, yeah, sorry." Aang waved him off and stood up. "I know I didn't really help at all, but if you need anything else I'll be in the tent." Sokka turned his head and smiled up at Aang. 

"No, you did. I might just try out that eye trick of yours." 

___

Sokka hated this, he truly did. Sitting at a desk with papers surrounding him that hurt his head to read, people using big words in an attempt to impress him, which never worked. Actually, all it did was give him a bad headache. 

He set the paper he was holding down and leaned back in his chair. It was pretty useless to go through them all. All of them were just some generals plans they sent in after they caught wind of the fact the prince and princess were going to go for the Golden City. They just wanted some credit for something they won't be a part of. 

Besides, Katara more than likely already had a 'master plan'. One that would most definitely blow these horrid ones out of the water. Sokka leaned forward, just barely enough so he could open the top drawer on his desk. Inside of it were three (already opened) enveloped letters. 

If he was going to read, he might as well read something he'd enjoy. 

The first letter was the longest. It was about her describing the journeys she went on with Katara and Suki. He decided from the stories alone that not much had changed in the years he was gone. Especially the one where Suki was doing flips off the ship _just_ to prove that she was better at it than some random guard she didn't even know the name of. 

The second letter was about Yue getting ready for coronation. How she didn't know if she was ready to rule in the state of a war, how to properly care for all her citizens. How she needed _him_ to come and help her with it. He thought about how her coronation was now only a few days away, hopefully her nerves had calmed. 

The third letter was definitely the shortest. It barely even took up half the page. ' _the throne beside me is ready for you when you finally arrive. Please, come here where you belong my love its been far too long._ ' 

Sokka swallowed thickly as he read the words over again. Her beautiful hand writing was another thing he always appreciated about her, he used to make her write out his reports for solely because her writing looked so nice. 

Sokka grabbed an empty paper and a quill, along with some ink. It was time to write her back. Say how he missed her as well. 

The light knock on an already open door sent his head flying up, and the ink nearly onto its side. "Sorry if I started you." Suki laughed as she took a few more steps forward onto the desk. Her eyes traveled over the desk, two piles were next to him, one much larger than the other. 

After she read some of the names on the larger pile she had come to the conclusion that it was obviously the declined ideas, though there were no accepted ideas either. "You're good, I just didn't expect it." 

"Katara wanted me to send down a few questions she had that went along with her plan." Sokka set the quill down, and looked at the small paper in Suki's hand. 

"She said once you had the answers then to just find her and talk about it." He hummed and watched as she set it ontop of the unread plans pile. She started to backpeddle out of the room, grabbing the door to close it behind her. 

"Between you and me, you might want to get onto the questions asap." Sokka knew this, his sister was patient when it came to most things. However, she was far too eager to take down the last major fire nation city-city in general-and wanted to do it as soon as she could. 

"I'll get right too it." The door softly closed at his confirmation. He glanced at the questions before grabbing his quill and continuing to write to Yue. 

___

Toph didn't take the news well. When she woke up her head hurt, there wasn't any earth below her so she was stuck in complete darkness. She could barely sit up without being in pain, it was horrible. 

Learning that Katara, Sokka, and Aang were off fighting some war they didn't know anything about and haven't been heard from in a week though? Thats different. 

"I'm sure they'll be fine." Suki claimed with her arm around Toph to help the earthbender walk outside the large palace. Suki said it nearly everyday, Toph didnt know if it was for her anymore or not. 

"Letters take a long time to travel, we dont even know if they got ours yet." The doors opened and it was pure bliss, she could finally see again. The sun shined on her face and her feet shifted onto the stone path beneath her. 

"We don't know where they are either." Toph muttered. Her grip on Suki's arm tightened, she hated being so dependent. She wanted to go and help her friends wherever they were, she needed to. 

"Their strong, they can handle it." They both sat down, and Toph laid back on the nice cool grass below her. She could feel the strands of her hair brushing against her nose and forehead. "Are you sure the past avatars didn't go crazy or something? We haven't even heard of another war." 

Suki didn't respond, there was a bit of rustling as she laid down too and looked at the clouds above them. "I don't know." She whispered after a few moments of silence. Toph closed her eyes tightly and nodded. 

___

Zuko rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, even when they were constantly on the move back at home he never had to wake up this early. He tugged the large cloth off of the earth tent Aang made, and stuffed it back into his bag. 

"Here we come, Golden city." He heard Azula excitedly say. She was up and ready to go the moment the sun rose. She sat on Appa with a smile on her face, it made Zuko happy to see her so excited. She never really was like this, other than when he volunteered to be the test subject for her fire bending. 

It was weird seeing his sister like this. Usually she was pretty naive, which she still is because they're miles away from home at the moment because some bald tattoo'd boy claimed he was the avatar. She was also smart and deductible, Azula is the reason he and the village are still alive probably. 

"Will you hurry up ZuZu? By the time you're done packing it'll be to late." Zuko rolled her eyes, he could feel the grin on her face forming. He tied his bag and walked over to the flying bison. 

Sokka was sitting in Aangs usual spot with a map in his hands. Aang was half asleep with his head resting on Kataras shoulders. Katara was running a comb through her tangled hair, she gave Zuko a small smile as he climbed onto the saddle. 

"So tell us about this Golden City." Sokka said, not taking his eyes off the map. Before Azula could even get a word out he said the infamous yip yip that the two siblings had gotten all to used too after the last few days of traveling. 

"Well, I've only ever heard stories of it when I was younger but it has these great big gates, and an even bigger city inside of it," Aang picked his head up, the description beginning to peak his interest "Only firebenders can open the gates-at least I'm pretty sure." 

"People all over have gone there to be safe, everything's equal there." Zuko continued "Everyone gets the same size house, same amount of food, everything." Katara hummed and nodded, it seemed fair enough that everyone would be treated as equals. 

"Except for the ruler, of course. Huge palace and all the food he could want." Azula chuckled and waved her hand out, it was obvious whoever ruled anything ever had much better treatment than anyone else. 

"I did hear that their pretty rude, though." Zuko pointed out "You don't need to listen to everything Uncle Iroh says in his letters." She pushed him a bit, and he panicked for a moment and grabbed the side of the saddle to stabilize himself. Yeah, maybe he was still a bit afraid of heights. 

___

Sokka tossed the paper towards his sister, she perked an eyebrow up at him. "I see you finally got around to my questions." Katara said with a smirk, she stood straight up to look at him. 

"We'll be there and be ready by the time the eclipse is here." His jaw tightened, and she could tell his hesitation. "What else is there?" She probed and took a step closer. 

"I'm not sure we'll be at the capital when it arrives." 

"Thats when we need it the most, we only have a few minutes of it Sokka we need the advantage." Katara snapped, frustrated at the news he presented. She cleared her throat and looked down. 

"If we move fast enough maybe we can, but there's no way to be certain." He stammered a bit, though his posture remained confident and straight. 

"We can't lose this Sokka, dad is counting on us, and so is mom." 

"Mom doesn't care about this! She hates the war!" He objected quickly, looking down at his sister. She was a people-pleaser. The citizens of the water tribes and the many colonies loved her a lot. She was inspirational and powerful. However, Katara could only do so much. 

"We won't leave until we have taken control of the city, no matter what it costs." She pushed past him, shoving him over with her shoulder as she walked farther down the boat. Sokka put one hand on the desk before him and leaned forward with a sigh. He ran his hand through his hair, fingers gently brushing against his scar. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah....sorry this took way too long to make.   
> Hope you enjoyed :))


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